LingoflyA boat on the shore in Georgian
At the pier: arranging a ride and fishing in Georgian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «გამარჯობა (gamarjoba). ნავით ცურვა (navit tsurva) შეიძლება (sheidzleba)?» — Hello. Can we go out on the boat?; «დიახ (diakh), შეიძლება (sheidzleba). რამდენი (ramdeni) ხართ (khart)?» — Yes, you can. How many are you? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: at the pier: arranging a ride and fishing. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- გამარჯობა. ნავით ცურვა შეიძლება?gamarjoba. navit tsurva sheidzleba?Hello. Can we go out on the boat?
- otsi lari. mashveli zhileti unda chaitsvat.Twenty lari. You must wear a life jacket.
Lines one by one
| Georgian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| გამარჯობა (gamarjoba). ნავით ცურვა (navit tsurva) შეიძლება (sheidzleba)? | gamarjoba. navit tsurva sheidzleba? | Hello. Can we go out on the boat? |
| დიახ (diakh), შეიძლება (sheidzleba). რამდენი (ramdeni) ხართ (khart)? | diakh, sheidzleba. ramdeni khart? | Yes, you can. How many are you? |
| ორი (ori) ვართ (vart). ერთი (erti) საათი (saati) რა ღირს? (ra ghirs) | ori vart. erti saati ra ghirs? | There are two of us. How much per hour? |
| ოცი (otsi) ლარი (lari). მაშველი ჟილეტი (mashveli zhileti) უნდა (unda) ჩაიცვათ. | otsi lari. mashveli zhileti unda chaitsvat. | Twenty lari. You must wear a life jacket. |
| რა თქმა უნდა (ra tkma unda). ანკესი (ankesi) გაქვთ? (gakvt) | ra tkma unda. ankesi gakvt? | Of course. Do you have a fishing rod? |
| დიახ (diakh), თევზაობაც შეიძლება (sheidzleba). | diakh, tevzaobats sheidzleba. | Yes, and fishing is allowed too. |
| მაშინ (mashin) ხვალ (khval) დილით (dilit) მოვალთ. | mashin khval dilit movalt. | Then we'll come tomorrow morning. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Georgian in this situation?
“გამარჯობა (gamarjoba). ნავით ცურვა (navit tsurva) შეიძლება (sheidzleba)?” (gamarjoba. navit tsurva sheidzleba?) — Hello. Can we go out on the boat? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.